During February half term fairandfunky joined students on the NCS scheme at The Zone in Huddersfield to lead workshops with a group of 16-18 year olds.
All fairandfunky workshops encourage participants to look at the world around them and empower people of all ages with the knowledge that their actions can have a positive impact on the world around them; both locally and globally. This workshop focussed on Fairtrade as a way in which each of us can take little steps to change the world.
Change The World With An Egg Box focuses on the environment and the students were asked to brainstorm environmental issues that were important to them – on a local and global scale. From deforestation to littering, poaching to flooding; a range of issues were listed and discussed. Some sharing their own individual beliefs for particular causes – particularly conservation of turtles!
fairandfunky lead a discussion around recycling and shared a few facts to get participants thinking about the impact of their individual actions. Did you know the average family throws away 6 trees worth of paper every year? Did you know a plastic bag takes over 300 years to decompose? Do you reuse your plastic bags? Do you recycle cardboard? How we deal with our waste has an impact on local and global environments. Recycling and reusing are positive behaviour changes we can all do to make a positive difference, and reduce many environmental problems.
With this in mind the students were given a challenge. Using a box of recycled materials, they had to create something that would ‘Change The World’. Each group chose a particular topic to address and set to work. The results were very impressive:
Peco The Penguin
Meet ‘Peco The Penguin’! This was a recycled masterpiece and had a number of ‘world changing’ features:
The choice of penguin was intentional as “Everybody loves penguins so he’ll help raise awareness about the importance of protecting them.”
The T.F.B
Introducing the T.F.B (Turtle Friendly Bag)!
“Look at this turtle with a bag on his head! Stop using plastic bags and use The T.F.B instead. Much stronger than your average bag and won’t be mistaken by the turtles for jellyfish.”
The Forestinator
The “Forestinator”
“Raising awareness about deforestation, this would be displayed in schools – the magical forest on the left is happy and healthy full of bugs and medicinal cures; but when machines come in and chop forests down you lost habitats and increase greenhouse gases. You must STOP!”
DIEforestation
And the model chosen as the winner? The DIEforestation:
During a “hard hitting” presentation presenters removed the trees one by one, whilst sharing the impacts of deforestation: “Soil is washed away, animals die, the land is useless. This would be taken into schools to raise awareness of the importance of rainforests.”
To find out more about the NCS scheme: http://thezonehct.com/national-citizen-service/
To find out more about ‘Change The World With An Egg Box’ and to book a fairandfunky workshop: https://www.fairandfunky.com/change-the-world-with-an-eggbox/
Tweets by @fair_funky
